10 October 2011

What is Wrong with the Philadelphia Eagles?

Did anybody think that Andy Reid and the Philadelphia Eagles would be sitting right now at 1-4? Of course nobody, especially not after their impressive offseason haul. Now the team is riding the cellar of the NFC East, a division right now that is anything from a beast. So what's the problem?No matter who impressive their offseason haul was, the Eagles failed to address serious needs on the offensive line. The team allows way too much pressure and way too many sacks on a mobile quarterback like Michael Vick, who has been forced by the pressure to throw interceptions. Rookie Danny Watkins has not performed to expectations and some of the players on the line have been making notable mistakes, like center Jason Kelce for example who missed a crucial block that led to Vick throwing the pick six to Nick Barnett. The linebacking unit has also struggled greatly and they were a unit that got ignored as well in the offseason.
Another major blunder the Eagles made was hiring offensive line coach Juan Castillo to be the new defensive coordinator, despite having no experience coaching that side of the ball. The defense has been one of the worst tackling units I've seen in a while and the secondary, one that had such high expectations with the additions of Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, has been beaten through the air while the run defense has been pitiful.
But the most blame has to be placed upon Reid. The team is sorely undisciplined, most notable when tackle Juqua Parker jumped offsides on a no-brainer freeze to allow the Bills to run out the clock on Sunday. Many dumb penalties, the aforementioned terrible tackling, and all has proof that Reid is clearly not doing one of his top coaching jobs of his career in Philly. Now while I don't think he will be fired at the end of the season, with the Super Bowl or bust expectations heaped on this club, if he fails to make the playoffs, he will be under a whole lot of fire.